caesura
[si-zhoo r-uh, -zoo r-uh, siz-yoo r-uh]
- Prosody. a break, especially a sense pause, usually near the middle of a verse, and marked in scansion by a double vertical line, as in know then thyself ‖ presume not God to scan.
- Classical Prosody. a division made by the ending of a word within a foot, or sometimes at the end of a foot, especially in certain recognized places near the middle of a verse.
- any break, pause, or interruption.
Show More
Also cesura.
Origin of caesura
1550–60; < Latin, equivalent to caes(us) cut (past participle of caedere) (caed- cut + -tus past participle suffix) + -ūra -ure
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for caesura
Contemporary Examples
This is a detail from "Caesura" by Emily Henretta, on view now at Room East in New York.
Historical Examples
Further, the caesura, where it occurs at all, may be masculine as well as feminine.
A History of English VersificationJakob Schipper
This caesura, like the end of the line, may be either masculine or feminine.
A History of English VersificationJakob Schipper
I had no idea of caesura, my gestures destroyed its harmony, etc., etc.
Delsarte System of OratoryVarious
The caesura is an important, though not essential, element in Spanish verse.
Legends, Tales and PoemsGustavo Adolfo Becquer
The "Nibelungen" strophe consists of four long lines separated by a caesura into two distinct halves.
The NibelungenliedUnknown
caesura
- (in modern prosody) a pause, esp for sense, usually near the middle of a verse lineUsual symbol: ||
- (in classical prosody) a break between words within a metrical foot, usually in the third or fourth foot of the line
Show More
Word Origin
C16: from Latin, literally: a cutting, from caedere to cut
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for caesura
n.
1550s, from Latin caesura, "metrical pause," literally "a cutting," from past participle stem of caedere "to cut down" (see -cide).
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper